(indieWIRE: 12.07.01) — The 31st International Film Festival Rotterdam(running Jan. 23 – Feb. 3, 2002) is beginning to take shape. On Wednesday,the festival issued a statement, announcing the 43 entrants taking part inthe CineMart, the festival’s annual market for films in need of funding.They also announced additional programs, the year’s Filmmakers in Focus, around of new projects financed by the Hubart Bals fund, and a thematicundercurrent to the 31st edition of the fest, called “What (is) Cinema?”The theme will consist of screenings and debates on subjects such as digitalcinema, new hybrid forms of cinema, film in the age of globalization,political cinema and auteur theory.

Two special sidebars have been added to the regular festival program, linkedto the central “What (is) Cinema?” theme: the politically-minded The Desertof the Real, which will feature Peter Watkins‘ multi-hour “La Commune(Paris, 1871),” Ken Fero and Tariq Mahmood‘s “Injustice,” Kenny Glenaan‘s “Gas Attack!” and several work from videoactivists, documentaries, short films and videos dealing with political and social issues. Also, The Looking Glass sidebar will showcase cinema that reflects on filmmaking itself, withfilms such as Todd Solondz‘s “Storytelling,” Philippe Garrel‘s “Sauvage Innocence,” and Vera Chytilova‘s “Expulsion From Paradise.”

The annual Exploding Cinema program is devoted in 2002 to the culture of themusic video. Concentrating on independent work that is rarely (or not atall) shown on television, the selection features thematically-relatedvideoclips (French New Wave, etc.) and programs by directors inspired by orrelated to music videos (i.e. Stacey Peralta‘s “Dogtown And Z-Boys” andGiovanna Sonnino‘s “Strike a Light“).

The annual Filmmakers in Focus program will concentrate on the work ofexperimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage, Canadian Inuit-director ZachariasKunuk (“Atanarjuat, the Fast Runner“), and Belgrade-based writer-directorGoran Markovic (“Burlesque Tragedy,” “Tito and Me“).

A round of projects have also been selected to receive financial supportfrom the 2001 Hubert Bals Fund of the IFFR, totaling around half a milliondollars. Some notable projects that have received grants are the latestprojects from a trio of Argentine directors, Martin Rejtman, LucreciaMartel, and Lisandro Alonso; and Turkey’s Yesim Ustaoglu, director of“Journey to the Sun.” Post-production funds went to, among others, EliaSuleiman for his latest work “Chronicle of Love and Pain,” and Fatmir Koci‘s “Tirana, An Zero.” The Hubert Bals Fund Script Award was given to Ivan Avila‘s “Enlightened Blood” (Mexico) and Kambozia Partovi‘s “The Truck” (Iran). [Anthony Kaufman]

>> DeNiro, Scorsese, Pataki and Others Tout New Film Festival for New York City

(indieWIRE: 12.07.01) — Trumpeting downtown New York as the “heart and soulof the independent film world,” a number of noteworthy New Yorkers joinedforces yesterday morning (Thursday) to officially announce the foundation ofthe Tribeca Film Festival.

Robert DeNiro, the actor and TriBeCa developer/restauranteur, discussed theidea of a film festival for the neighborhood when he and business partnerJane Rosenthal formed the Tribeca Film Center on Greenwich Ave. thirteen years ago. Plans for the fest were put on the front burner this year, andthen halted momentarily after the tragic events of Sept. 11th. Now,organizers see it as an important step towards rebuilding the severelydamaged downtown scene.

“While we are all still mourning,” Rosenthal said yesterday, “we always mustremember and we must now begin to look forward by celebrating andreaffirming the future, in memory of those who perished.”

Organizers were short on final details for the event; additional particularswill be announced next week. Tribeca Entertainment COO, and FestivalExecutive Director, Trina Wyatt told indieWIRE that the event will screen upto 60 films (20 of those will be short films) during its four-day run at anumber of downtown venues May 1 – 5, 2002. The progammer of the event has yetto be unveiled. Submissions will be accepted January 1 – March 1, 2002.

Director Martin Scorsese is among the notables on board for the festival.Standing on stage with New York Governor George Pataki and actress MerylStreep, he expressed his enthusiasm at the opportunity to expose localaudiences to “emerging filmmakers who might not otherwise have a platformfrom which to share their work.” He also looked forward to showcasingarchival work, as well as foreign films. Additionally, he intends to have avoice in the selection of the movies that will screen.

Among the confirmed elements are screenings at the Tribeca Film Center,Tribeca Grand Hotel, The Screening Room, The Knitting Factory and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, a day of panel discussions and seminars, and a “Coming of Age Film Retrospective” that will include a free outdoorscreening.

“What’s needed here is four days and nights of young people coming down,”Scorsese explained, “People whose films were not accepted in other venues.”

“This is a time in our culture and our history where young people aredeciding to express themselves through the use of images,” Scorsese said,“There can never be enough of a platform (for that).” [Eugene Hernandez]